Original iPhone Prototype With iPod Click Wheel Surfaces Online (macrumors.com)

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Original iPhone Prototype With iPod Click Wheel Surfaces Online (macrumors.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Friday January 6, 2017 @11:25AM from the into-the-wide-blue-yonder dept.

Famed Apple leaker Sonny Dickson has shared an early prototype of the original iPhone, with a collection of images and a video that provides a glimpse into one version of the iPhone that Apple created and tested before ending up with the first iteration of the device. Mac Rumors reports: The prototype includes some similar features to the first generation iPhone, like an aluminum chassis, multi-touch compatible screen, 2G connectivity and Wi-Fi, but its entire user interface is taken directly from the click wheel system of Apple's original iPod line. Called "Acorn OS," the prototype software includes an on-screen click wheel on the bottom half of the screen and a menu system on the top half, and the two are bisected by a bar with rewind, menu, play/pause, and fast-forward buttons. On the menu are options such as "Favorites," "SMS," "Music," "Settings," and "Recents," and it's navigated by circling around the click wheel to go up and down, with a center press confirming an action, just like on the iPod. Dickson references Apple's patent for a "multi-functional hand-held device," filed and published in 2006, as proof that such a prototype did exist at one point and could potentially have been an alternate version of the iPhone. In one of the patent's drawings, a click wheel can be seen as a possible input method for the proposed device. The patent's abstract describes a product with "at most only a few physical buttons, keys, or switches so that its display size can be substantially increased."

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Iphone Cook edition by Master5000 · 2017-01-06 11:34 · Score: 2, Funny

This looks like something Tim Cook would have released.
Then LG prada by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-06 11:41 · Score: 0, Interesting

Then LG Prada got released, won awards and they probably decided to copy it
1. Re:Then LG prada by AmiMoJo · 2017-01-06 11:48 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It's really fascinating to see that they really didn't invent the modern, big touch screen smart phone. They were going to release something that likely would have been consigned to the annals of history as a failed idea and eventually been forced to go the touch screen route like everyone else.
  Jobs was famously honest about stealing good ideas. The iPhone might be the highest value theft ever.
  
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  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
2. Re: Then LG prada by Atomic+Fro · 2017-01-06 13:03 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I've seen the patent for this prior to this release. I was pretty confident it was disinformation so competitors wouldn't know what they were actually doing. I still believe that's case, and what this protype is.
  It may have been George Lucas style revisionism, but it's been said the iPhone was a stepping stone to get to Jobs' goal of the iPad. The click wheel wouldn't fly. And I doubt AT&T would have redesigned their network and voicemail system for this either.
  
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3. Re:Then LG prada by Yaztromo · 2017-01-06 13:27 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  They were going to release something that likely would have been consigned to the annals of history as a failed idea and eventually been forced to go the touch screen route like everyone else.
  First off, this prototype is a giant touchscreen -- the click wheel in the video is entirely virtual, and not physical.
  Secondly, there is no evidence that Apple ever had any intentions of releasing this device. I know it's hard to believe, but some companies out there do actual R&D work where they build and design a whole lot of experimental products that are not intended for release.
  This was presumably the work of one such R&D team that put together a prototype based on the idea of making a virtual iPod, which was evaluated, found seriously wanting, and then scrapped, which is why it's taken this long for one to even be made public.
  Yaz
4. Re:Then LG prada by dgatwood · 2017-01-06 14:49 · Score: 1
  
  Then LG Prada got released, won awards and they probably decided to copy it
  I know that's what the LG folks would like to think, but the reality is that nobody—even Apple—could create a working prototype of an entire cell phone OS and hardware in the twelve weeks between when LG announced and when Apple announced (even without the Thanksgiving and Christmas shutdowns cutting into that schedule).
  Besides, Apple created the nothing-but-screen PDA form factor when they released the Newton, way back when LG was still called GoldStar and mostly made cheap TVs and VCRs....
  
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5. Re:Then LG prada by squiggleslash · 2017-01-06 17:32 · Score: 1
  
  They apparently already had the hardware - that scrollwheel UI is on a touch screen, it's not a "hard" wheel like the iPods.
  The software? Well, the demo Jobs presented apparently had very buggy software that was prone to crashing. The demo was heavily scripted to ensure Jobs took a path through the operating system that had been shown not to crash, repeatedly.
  Add to this that all the components of the operating system, with the arguable exception of the home screen (which wasn't exactly complicated) were all parts of Mac OS X, running as root, and... it's conceivable that much of the system was put together a few weeks before the event. Enough of it, at least, to demo.
  Did that actually happen? The fact the OS was so bug ridden such a script was necessary suggests so, but I'm inclined to think it didn't anyway, and that Apple probably was working on the general concept before the LG Prada was announced. Most of the UI elements for a touch screen only device are fairly self evident, and it's the gestures that really made it work, and that's something Apple had been experimenting with for years.
  
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6. Re:Then LG prada by dgatwood · 2017-01-06 19:25 · Score: 1
  
  None of UIKit is part of OS X, and AFAIK, it doesn't share any code with AppKit—it doesn't even use the same coordinate system. That means it wouldn't have been just the home screen, but rather all of the user interface views, touch handling, gesture recognition, etc. Realistically, that's not a few weeks' work.
  Besides, the iOS UI is very much the natural evolution of Newton OS. All touchscreen OSes, including the LG Prada, are basically just imitations of that original design with varying degrees of refinement, so it's no surprise that design-wise, the iOS home screen is almost identical to the Newton's, all the way down to the bottom row of icons being reserved for commonly-used features. The only big difference is that the Newton was in black-and-white/greyscale. By contrast, the iOS home screen looks almost nothing like the home screen on the KE850 except to the extent that they both involve a touchscreen containing some icons. It seems pretty obvious that the iOS UI evolved in-house, inspired mainly by the Newton, and that the LG Prada had no meaningful impact on it, unless I missed something subtle.
  
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7. Re:Then LG prada by TheFakeTimCook · 2017-01-07 00:22 · Score: 1
  
  It's really fascinating to see that they really didn't invent the modern, big touch screen smart phone. They were going to release something that likely would have been consigned to the annals of history as a failed idea and eventually been forced to go the touch screen route like everyone else.
  Jobs was famously honest about stealing good ideas. The iPhone might be the highest value theft ever.
  I can show you where Samsung got their smartphone design from.
  
  Now, Please show me where Apple got the iPhone from (and don't say from that barely-similar LG Prada, unless you think Apple could have designed the iPhone in ONE MONTH, since the Prada wasn't even LEAKED until December 12, 2006, and the iPhone was DEBUTED on January 9, 2007, some 25 DAYS later).
8. Re: Then LG prada by TheFakeTimCook · 2017-01-07 00:25 · Score: 1
  
  I've seen the patent for this prior to this release. I was pretty confident it was disinformation so competitors wouldn't know what they were actually doing. I still believe that's case, and what this protype is.
  It may have been George Lucas style revisionism, but it's been said the iPhone was a stepping stone to get to Jobs' goal of the iPad. The click wheel wouldn't fly. And I doubt AT&T would have redesigned their network and voicemail system for this either.
  I actually heard that they designed the iPad FIRST. (Sorry for the obnoxious link).
9. Re:Then LG prada by TheFakeTimCook · 2017-01-07 00:29 · Score: 1
  
  Then LG Prada got released, won awards and they probably decided to copy it
  I know that's what the LG folks would like to think, but the reality is that nobody—even Apple—could create a working prototype of an entire cell phone OS and hardware in the twelve weeks between when LG announced and when Apple announced (even without the Thanksgiving and Christmas shutdowns cutting into that schedule).
  Besides, Apple created the nothing-but-screen PDA form factor when they released the Newton, way back when LG was still called GoldStar and mostly made cheap TVs and VCRs....
  According to Wikipedia, the LG Prada was first ANNOUNCED on December 19, 2006, and the original iPhone was first DEMONSTRATED on January 9, 2007.
  
  So, we're not talking TWELVE weeks (which is of course, ridiculous, as you pointed-out), but more like THREE weeks (actually less)...
10. Re:Then LG prada by TheFakeTimCook · 2017-01-07 00:32 · Score: 1
  
  The software? Well, the demo Jobs presented apparently had very buggy software that was prone to crashing. The demo was heavily scripted to ensure Jobs took a path through the operating system that had been shown not to crash, repeatedly.
  Your point being?
  
  Guess you've never had to demo a brand-new, not-yet-released product, then, have you?
  
  Or likely not any product, eh?
11. Re:Then LG prada by TheFakeTimCook · 2017-01-07 00:42 · Score: 1
  
  None of UIKit is part of OS X, and AFAIK, it doesn't share any code with AppKit—it doesn't even use the same coordinate system. That means it wouldn't have been just the home screen, but rather all of the user interface views, touch handling, gesture recognition, etc. Realistically, that's not a few weeks' work.
  Besides, the iOS UI is very much the natural evolution of Newton OS. All touchscreen OSes, including the LG Prada, are basically just imitations of that original design with varying degrees of refinement, so it's no surprise that design-wise, the iOS home screen is almost identical to the Newton's, all the way down to the bottom row of icons being reserved for commonly-used features. The only big difference is that the Newton was in black-and-white/greyscale. By contrast, the iOS home screen looks almost nothing like the home screen on the KE850 except to the extent that they both involve a touchscreen containing some icons. It seems pretty obvious that the iOS UI evolved in-house, inspired mainly by the Newton, and that the LG Prada had no meaningful impact on it, unless I missed something subtle.
  Not to mention that both the iPhone and the Newton were based on ARM (Apple being one of the originators of ARM), and so, maybe even some of the Newton OS' Assembly code made its way into the prototypes of the iPhone OS.
  
  However, I do take one small exception to your comment about the "bottom row buttons". In 1982-84, I was designing a stage-lighting controller with a rudimentary touchscreen interface. In the "GUI" I designed for it (from scratch!), the bottom-row was taken up with some dedicated "Navigation" buttons. So, I think it's more of a "natural" place to put stuff, rather than an homage to Newton (although I agree that is a possibility).
12. Re: Then LG prada by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-07 04:11 · Score: 0
  
  "some companies out there do actual R&D work where they build and design a whole lot of experimental products that are not intended for release."
  Apple clearly has too much money.
13. Re:Then LG prada by catchblue22 · 2017-01-07 08:06 · Score: 1
  
  From what I understand, Steve Jobs led a small group of engineers in designing the iPhone. It sounds like this was part of it; they apparently had competing teams of engineers trying to build a phone. The reason why the initial iPhone was so feature incomplete (e.g. no copy/paste) was that it was designed by such a small engineering team. I think Steve Job's greatest strengths as a CEO were (a) the ability to know what kind of a device he wanted, (b) the ability to know what was actually possible (possibly because of what he had seen elsewhere) and (c) the ability to say "NO that's shit...do it again". I don't think that having CEO's delegating grand strategic decisions leads to good results. The CEO must have a semblance of big picture knowledge.
  
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14. Re:Then LG prada by dgatwood · 2017-01-07 10:54 · Score: 1
  
  The official release announcement was in December, but it was shown in the iF Design Awards in September. So actually more like 16 weeks. (For some reason, I incorrectly thought that was in October.)
  
  --
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15. Re:Then LG prada by TheFakeTimCook · 2017-01-07 12:01 · Score: 1
  
  The official release announcement was in December, but it was shown in the iF Design Awards in September. So actually more like 16 weeks. (For some reason, I incorrectly thought that was in October.)
  Either way, as you quite correctly pointed out, there is simply no way...
16. Re:Then LG prada by ArmoredDragon · 2017-01-07 16:28 · Score: 1
  
  I think what you're getting at is "design by committee" vs having one good designer.
  The later is much easier when you don't have somebody above you interfering with your vision. If you're a CEO, then that's pretty much what you get.
  Bill Gates was able to do really well because of this. However, Steve Ballmer was a salesperson first, and engineer second, and his own interference ended up killing a few interesting product lines that Microsoft was working on before Apple came out with the iPad:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
  Tim Cook seems like he's making the same mistakes that Ballmer made, and may see a similar downfall.
17. Re:Then LG prada by Plumpaquatsch · 2017-01-09 01:19 · Score: 1
  
  Then LG Prada got released, won awards and they probably decided to copy it
  Official announcement of the iPhone: Jan. 9th 2007 (Happy Birthday)
  Official announcement of the LG Prada: Jan. 18th 2007. First blurry pictures Dec. 15th 2006. First mention of an award won (as third to last device in list, with no mention of Prada): Dec. 7th 2006. ("LG Electronics (LG), a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, announced the awards for 21 remarkable products given by the prestigious iF product design award 2007" ... "Mobile Phone (KE850)" http://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=210316&picno=82493&ected=
  How the hell did Apple copy a phone in just one month, when all they had to go by was the mention of the product number in a list?
  Well, almost all articles of the time about the LG Prada mention how much it looks like the iPhone, not the other way around. http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/LG-Prada-Make-iPhone-Look-a-Like And people who actually compared them said there was no comparison really http://gizmodo.com/261172/settling-this-iphone-vs-lg-prada-nonsense
  
  --
  Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
18. Re: Then LG prada by Plumpaquatsch · 2017-01-09 01:50 · Score: 1
  
  I actually heard that they designed the iPad FIRST. (Sorry for the obnoxious link).
  That's pretty certain: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/05/05/10/226205/apple-patents-tablet-mac-with-photos - even if people at the time still thought it would be a Mac. Note that in 2005 it was publicly known how the iPad would look, yet people later claimed the design was stolen from Samsung's 2006 picture frame.
  
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  Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
19. Re:Then LG prada by Plumpaquatsch · 2017-01-09 03:29 · Score: 1
  
  The official release announcement was in December, but it was shown in the iF Design Awards in September. So actually more like 16 weeks. (For some reason, I incorrectly thought that was in October.)
  Wrong. There is no iF Design Awards in September, and never was. The iF Design Awards ceremony 2007 was at the Hannover Fair on March 15th 2007, coinciding with the start of the exhibition of the awarded produts. Late September 2006 was the date by which products had to be delivered to the International Forum Design. The only people who saw the products were the jury, neither Apple nor any other outsiders did. The awardees were informed in December (and LG promptly issued a press release). Everything else is (at best) make-self-believe by LG.
  
  --
  Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
The real question not answered by smooth+wombat · 2017-01-06 11:50 · Score: 1, Funny

Did this iPhone have a jack to plug your headphone into?

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1. Re:The real question not answered by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-06 12:01 · Score: 0
  
  Well it's over a decade old, so I assume it includes outdated technology.
2. Re:The real question not answered by TheFakeTimCook · 2017-01-07 00:43 · Score: 1
  
  Well it's over a decade old, so I assume it includes outdated technology.
  Oooo. SNAP!
3. Re: The real question not answered by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-07 04:09 · Score: 0
  
  You've added a battery to something that previously didn't need one and call it progress
Screw that by Billly+Gates · 2017-01-06 11:56 · Score: 2, Funny

I am waiting for the MacBook wheel!

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1. Re:Screw that by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2017-01-06 12:15 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I am waiting for the MacBook wheel!
  Oh stop it. Apple would never release anything like that... it's way too thick.
  
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2. Re:Screw that by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-06 13:13 · Score: 0
  
  Jesus fuck... how much duller can you slashfags get? It's mind numbing how much you dorks like to pull on each others' dicks over nothing...
  Why not just mention Microsoft Bob for fucks sake?
3. Re:Screw that by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-06 15:42 · Score: 0
  
  You talk like a fag and your shits all retarded
4. Re:Screw that by Plumpaquatsch · 2017-01-09 03:36 · Score: 1
  
  I am waiting for the MacBook wheel!
  Oh stop it. Apple would never release anything like that... it's way too thick.
  Yeah, if it were any thicker, it would be you.
  
  --
  Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Analog iPhone, I like. by nospam007 · 2017-01-06 12:38 · Score: 0

Time until some Chinese company will launch an exact replica in 10, 9, 8, ....
And if done right, nobody will steal it, since they'll think it's a piece of decade old tech.
I really miss the scrolly wheel on my old Pilot by kriston · 2017-01-06 16:04 · Score: 1

I really miss the scrolly wheel on my old Pilot and the very short-lived AOL Communicator beeper.

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Kriston
Taiwanese Invention, Not Cupertino by retroworks · 2017-01-06 22:00 · Score: 1

The story I had always heard from friends in Taipei's Tech Sector was that Apple had long subcontracted the iPod production to Taiwan (Hon Hoi Precision Tech Group, owned by Terry Gou, aka Foxconn) and that the display geeks in Taiwan - who had been trying to improve touch screens for ATM machines moving from CRT to LCD - introduced it in the model. According to my pals (now retired) Apple realized how important the multi device implications could be and hired an insider from the Taiwan shop to move to a Vancouver subcontractor.
The touch screen technology, according to Taipei geeks, was originally German origin, but the German company had never succeeded in finding a profitable use for it, and they had bought it in a bankruptcy and tried applying it to ATM displays. This article doesn't prove this story, but it does appear to fit the iPod demo story. Maybe someone at /. knows the German company.

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so the joke was real? by hackertourist · 2017-01-07 01:12 · Score: 1

ISTR just before the iPhone announcement, people were joking about the new "Apple Phone" having an iPod-style click wheel for rotary dialing.